Quotespace-time
How long do they last? I replace my Brita pitcher filter once a month, about $50/year.

Varies on your local water too. City of Seattle water supply is low sediment, and low in dissolved solids and contaminants. I get 2 months or so per Brita filter. You can taste the difference in coffee and tea made with Brita filtered water. It strips out the chlorine which messes with the tanins in tea, and something or other in coffee beans.

If you're not going to change a filter at least bypass it.
They can become a petri dish collecting both the bacteria and the food it thrives on.
Not changing a water filter is like storing your toothbrush up your bunghole.
Or never washing your genitals because, "hey, they still function".
Use your head.

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Quotebillb
If you're not going to change a filter at least bypass it.
They can become a petri dish collecting both the bacteria and the food it thrives on.
Not changing a water filter is like storing your toothbrush up your bunghole.
Or never washing your genitals because, "hey, they still function".
Use your head.

When the darkroom at work went unused for a while, there was an appalling amount of algae living in the filters. It then broke free when we started running film again, and the debris became embedded in the emulsions. Lesson learned.

Quotebillb
If you're not going to change a filter at least bypass it.
They can become a petri dish collecting both the bacteria and the food it thrives on.
Not changing a water filter is like storing your toothbrush up your bunghole.
Or never washing your genitals because, "hey, they still function".
Use your head.

I have a Samsung refrigerator/freezer and the Samsung filters are $47 each. I buy a three-pack from Amazon for about $20 and change the filter every six months. They don't say where they are made, but they're only charcoal filters. It's not like a food product that could be adulterated.

Quotebillb
If you're not going to change a filter at least bypass it.
They can become a petri dish collecting both the bacteria and the food it thrives on.
Not changing a water filter is like storing your toothbrush up your bunghole.
Or never washing your genitals because, "hey, they still function".
Use your head.

Quoterichorlin
I have a Samsung refrigerator/freezer and the Samsung filters are $47 each. I buy a three-pack from Amazon for about $20 and change the filter every six months. They don't say where they are made, but they're only charcoal filters. It's not like a food product that could be adulterated.

Um, what did they "burn" to make the charcoal? Old melamine Ikea shelves? Prisoner's bones? THAT'S the kind of crap I associate with much Chinese stuff these days. It IS slowly getting better though.

Exactly. Domestic water supplies are not sterile water, just water that has bacterial and other counts below set minimums when it enters the system. Once the chlorine or other antibacterial agent is gone, those organisms can start multiplying again.. The activated carbon in the filter can actually speed up the process when there is no flow by removing what chlorine remains in the stagnant water in the filter.

It's important to wash your brita filters tank every once in a while. It can get nasty in there.
Amazon bulk filters too. Someone here suggested a local company that did filters a while back. To tired to search.

Quotebillb
If you're not going to change a filter at least bypass it.
They can become a petri dish collecting both the bacteria and the food it thrives on.
Not changing a water filter is like storing your toothbrush up your bunghole.
Or never washing your genitals because, "hey, they still function".
Use your head.

That makes absolutely no sense at all, whatsoever, zero.

I think it does make sense.

Microbiological contamination is a hard concept for some.

The Phorum Wall keeps us safe from illegal characters and words
The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of one's own ignorance. -Benjamin Franklin
BOYCOTT YOPLAIT [www.noyoplait.com]
[soundcloud.com]

Quotebillb
If you're not going to change a filter at least bypass it.
They can become a petri dish collecting both the bacteria and the food it thrives on.
Not changing a water filter is like storing your toothbrush up your bunghole.
Or never washing your genitals because, "hey, they still function".
Use your head.

I bought these for our Frigidaire. I didn't know they were going to be made in China but they had the best
reviews that I've ever seen on Amazon so I took a chance. Locally one is up $50. ea. These were 2/$35.

BTW: They showed up yesterday afternoon, shipped out of KY via Ground Select so I suspect they were
shipped earlier than Amazon let it be known. Ground Select is not going to go from KY to our home overnight.

We have an Electrolux that used to be sold thru Sears. I had bought filters at Sears a while ago but then they stopped selling the Electrolux brand of filters. The last time I bought one was at Sears' web site but it was unbranded and when I installed it the "replace filter" warning didn't shut off. Took it out and reseated it, making sure it clicked (as instructed) but it's still showing the warning. Will replace in a couple of months using the past replacement dates as my guideline...

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A carbon filter loaded with whatever chemicals it once removed and possible bacteria growing inside it not an empty plastic piece. Look at where this started, he said to by pass it. That would be "an empty plastic piece."

Don't most freezer filter units have a built-in bypass to allow water flow once the filter is clogged? If so, then of course you will be getting all the rust, other particles, and bacteria present in the water to begin with, as well as the bacteria sloughing off the upstream side of the clogged filter.

As mentioned above, drinking water is not sterile. The EPA prohibits only coliform bacteria (E coli is one genus) from public drinking water supplies. Non-coliforms are not prohibited, and are present in most water systems. I find them when I test new and existing water line samples in my lab. Chlorine does not kill them in the time frame between chlorine addition to the water and the time I take the sample.

Interestingly, private well samples often come up devoid bacteria in my tests. Private well water is not regulated by the EPA.

Using that logic, then if you dont change your filter the minute it stops working, or the minute after the carbon is "full" then you are risking bacteria growth too...

It's not "automagical"; the bacteria are present in the source water. See chemolithotrophs. Your logic is correct but stops short of the actual condition: the bacteria will grow (albeit slowly) wherever they have sufficient nutrients, and when trapped in the filter they accumulate there. As some die, they release nutrients for use by nearby, trapped bacteria, enhancing the latter's growth. Once the by-pass opens, the bacterial "mat" can break off and join the water flow. Melt some ice from your water-line fed freezer and smell it.